• Applying right away can boost the chances you'll hear back about a role, LinkedIn data shows.
• Responding quickly to employers can up your chances of getting an interview and a job, Indeed found.
• Career coaches told BI that your speed can signal your interest in a role.

If you're looking for a job, speed is your friend.

That's because, like in business itself, there is often a first-mover advantage for job seekers who respond quickly to open roles and overtures from employers, according to data from job sites.

Applying to a role within the first 10 minutes of getting a relevant job alert can boost your chance of hearing back by as much as four times, LinkedIn found.

Haste can also pay off throughout the process, especially when it comes to responding to those doing the hiring.

In the US, job seekers who reply to a prospective employer's message within 24 hours are 4.1 times as likely to get hired and 6.7 times as likely to get an interview, according to data Indeed shared with Business Insider.

"Speed is not just an edge, it's a signal," said Patrice Lindo, CEO of Career Nomad, a platform that helps professionals navigate career changes. "It says, 'I'm ready. I'm visible. I'm serious. I'm a decision-maker.'"

She recommends that clients apply for jobs within the first four to eight hours of seeing a posting.

"They're far more likely to be seen and even considered," Lindo told BI.

A sign of intent

The difference that speed can make matters because, for many desk workers, the pace of hiring has gone from blazing fast a few years ago to sluggish.

The overall job market remains strong, yet some companies are taking their time to hire as they try to gain insights into factors such as how tariff vacillations could affect the economy and how quickly artificial intelligence could take on certain tasks.

That's why, in this market, moving quickly isn't a sign of desperation, but rather of intent, Lindo said.

Another reason to be speedy is that once an employer has a sufficient number of résumés, they're likely to stop looking at whatever else trickles in, Susan Peppercorn, an executive and career coach, told BI.

She advises clients that, most of the time, it's not worth it to apply for a role when the number of applicants reaches 100.

Peppercorn, like Lindo, said that moving fast can send a positive signal when communicating with a would-be employer.

"Responding within 24 hours anybody can do, but responding within the first hour shows that you're really, really interested," Peppercorn said.

Doing your homework quickly

Moving fast doesn't give you a license to be sloppy, of course. It's still better to tailor your applications to each job and to include a cover letter that, at the very least, mentions the employer's name and the role you're going after.

Customizing an application while also moving fast can be challenging, but it's doable if you're prepared. Lindo likened it to how a pregnant woman might prepare a bag packed with essentials for the hospital. Translation: Have a strong résumé ready to go.

That way, it only needs small adjustments, depending on the opportunity, she said.

Peppercorn recommends limiting what you tweak to create a solid but speedy application. She said job applicants should focus on the top summary section of their résumé and, where possible, leave the other sections alone.

The edits you make to the top should incorporate some of the key words contained in the job posting, Peppercorn said.

While it's a good idea to include a cover letter, she said, the software that many employers use to collate applications often strips off that layer to focus on the résumé itself. So, Peppercorn said, a perfunctory cover letter with some modest customization might often suffice.

In any case, don't take too long. Otherwise, you risk missing out because some employers close openings within five to 10 days, Lindo said.

Even if an employer doesn't take down a listing, if you're still perfecting your résumé on day eight, "you've already missed the window," she said.

Lindo added that some employers are likely to think that applicants who move quickly would also apply that approach to the job.

"It's an indicator of how you will operate if you were to be chosen," she said.

Do you have a story to share about your job search? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• Tech giants are known for their challenging interviews.
• Google, Meta, and Nvidia top the list of rigorous interviews with multiple rounds and assessments.
• But tough questions show up across industries, according to employee reports on Glassdoor.

It's tough to break into high-paying companies.

Google is notorious for having a demanding interview process. Aside from putting job candidates through assessments, preliminary phone calls, and asking them to complete projects, the company also screens candidates through multiple rounds of interviews.

Typical interview questions range from open-ended behavioral ones like "tell me about a time that you went against the status quo" or "what does being 'Googley' mean to you?" to more technical ones.

At Nvidia, the chipmaking darling of the AI boom, candidates must also pass through rigorous rounds of assessments and interviews. "How would you describe __ technology to a non-technical person?" was a question a candidate interviewing for a job as a senior solutions architect shared on the career site Glassdoor last month. The candidate noted that they didn't receive an offer.

Tech giants top Glassdoor's list of the hardest companies to interview with. But tough questions show up across industries — from luxury carmakers like Rolls-Royce, where a candidate said they were asked to define "a single crystal," to Bacardi, where a market manager who cited a difficult interview, and no offer, recalled being asked, "If you were a cocktail what would you be and why?"

The digital PR agency Reboot Online analyzed Glassdoor data to determine which companies have the most challenging job interviews. They focused on "reputable companies" listed in the top 100 of Forbes' World's Best Employers list and examined 313,000 employee reviews on Glassdoor. For each company, they looked at the average interview difficulty rating as reported on Glassdoor.

Here's a list of the top 90 companies that put candidates through the ringer for a job, according to self-reported reviews on Glassdoor.